Porous cup.



No. 684,39l. Patented Oct. 8, |90I. S. DE AYLA.

PDBOUS CUP.

(Applicstinn med my 1, 1901.)

(No Model.)

' Z /C C $44 'gv/444,4 Sti-1ML (il.

cau-g- UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

STEPHEN DE AYOLA, OF NElV YORK., N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONEJIALF TO GEORGEE. FRITZ, OF SAME PLACE.

POROUS CU P.

SFECIFI'ECATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 684,391, datedOctober 8, 1901. Application filed May l, 1901. Serial No. 58.1358. (Nomodel.)

T0 all whom. it 71mg/ concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN DE. AYOLA, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of New York, county of New York, and State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Porous Cups; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same.

My invention relates to improvements in porous cups which are used andemployed inprimary electric batteries; and the object of my invention isto provide a cup which in an electric primary battery will bepractically unbreakable and will economize space, minimize weight, andprevent loss and Waste of the elements constituting the battery. Toattain this object, I employa rubber cup punctured or perforated withinterstices or holes in such manner that when the rubber is at rest orfree from pressure or tension the interstices or holes will be closed,and the cup will then be impervious or non-porous, thus preventing theaction of the elements constituting the battery, but when the rubber isslightly stretched or drawn or impressed the interstices or punctureswill open, acting as pores and giving porosity to the cup, thuspermitting action of the elements until the tension is released orpressure withdrawn.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which similar lettersrefer to similar parts throughout both views.

Figure l is a perspective view of a cup embodying my invention, showingthe cup containing a carbon plate and placed between two zinc plates.the line 2 2 in Fig. 1.

In the parts of a battery thus illustrated as comprising my inventionthe cup R consists of a rubber pouch or bag which may be made of onepiece or may consist of two or more pieces of rubber cemented togetherand so as to form a liquid-tight pouch or bag. Being of rubber, the cupis not subject to the action of the acids employed in an electricbattery.- The rubber is punctured with numerous small interstices orholes c c, which are formed by slitting or pricking through the body ofthe rubber without cutting out any of the tissue,I so that owing to theelasticity of the rubber the interstices or holes c c will act asvalves, opening and giving porosity to the cup when Fig. 2 is across-section onthe rubber is stretched or subjected to tension orpressure and closing tightly when the pressure or tension is removed.The interstices may be circular or elongated or of any shape or form.The rubber should be of such thickness that it will afford sufficientelasticity to open the pores or interstices when tension or pressure isapplied and to close the interstices tightly when relaxed by release ofthe tension or pressure. The rubber may be attached to the cover of thejar or vessel containing the battery, so that by raising or lowering thecover the rubber will be stretched or compressed and the requiredporosity attained and by releasing the pressure or tension the rubberrelaxes and closes the pores. Any mechanical means may be employed toapply.

tension or pressure to the rubber.

If desired, the rubber may be of such thinness that when relaxed or atrest the perforations will not close tightly, but will remainsuficieutly open to permit'the action of the acids through the pores atall times. In that case the cup will simply be a exlible indestructibleporous cup.

Porous cups heretofore inuse in primary electric batteries have beenmade of firm and brittle substances of considerable bulkiness. Batteriescontaining such cups are for many purposes, and particularly for use inelectric vehicles, in convenientand impractical for the followingreasons: Such cups being necessarily loosely packed in cells, thejarring of the vehicle causes them to knock against the zinc and carbonplates, and the cups, being easily breakable, are frequently broken,thereby destroying the battery. Again, such cups are of such bulkinessthat in order to obtain the required ampere charge for high power andlong distance it is necessary to have a battery of too great bulk andweight for convenient and practical use in a vehicle. Again, such cupsbeing always porous the action of the elements is constantly at work,decomposing the same and causing waste of the elements and requiringfrequent recharging.

By the use of my invention many plates of zinc Z and carbon C may beclosely packed together in their individual or multiple cups R, therebygreatly economizing space and lessening the weight for any requiredampere charge and at the same time preventing break- IOO age, the cupitself being practically unbreakable, and the rubber acting as aprotection to the zinc and carbon. Besides, the rubber being acid-proofand the porosity and non-porosity of the cup being attained as desiredby opening or closing the interstices c c, as above described, theaction of the elements can be stopped at any time, thereby saving theelements and preventing Waste when the battery is not in use.

The cup may be of any shape or form.

Having thus described my invention, What Iclaim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a primary electric battery an elastic cup provided withinterstices and means for applying tension to said cup to open and closethe interstices according to the tension applied or released.

2. In a primary electric battery the combination with zinc and carbon ofan elastic cup, provided with interstices or pores, which will open andclose as tension is. applied or released, and with means for applyingand releasing tension.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand the 17th day of April,1901.

STEPHEN DE AYOLA.

In presence of- JoHN T. BOOTH, N. T. MINOGUE.

